In talking with many other lifters who are looking for that thick upper back look, I’m convinced that many people are not seeing the results they want, due to a lack of poundage and overall volume.

In my experience with training to build a bigger set of traps and a thick upper back, heavier weights are the way to go.

Optimally, I’d be Deadlifting once a week, hitting other deadlift variations on another day during the week, and then performing some form of heavy Rack Pull or Shrug that requires lifting straps on another day during the week.

However, my lower back has given me some problems through the last quarter of this year, so I haven’t been able to perform those kinds of lifts with the frequency I’d normally go for.

Instead, I’ve had to switch gears and go very heavy on my “isolation work,” for the upper back, and recently I was able to get some of this work on film to share with you.

In the video below you’ll see the following exercises and suggested volumes if you try them out:

1A – Heavy Incline Posterior Flies – 8 to 12 reps
1B – Lighter Incline Posterior Flies – 8 to 12 reps
1C – Heavy Dumbbell Shrugs – 10 to 20 reps

On this particular occasion, I used 65lb dumbbells on the first sub-set of Posterior Flies, followed by 35lbs (I think), then immediately went to 120lb Dumbbells for the Shrugs.

Optimally, I follow the Posterior Flies up with heavier Dumbbell Shrugs, especially if I’m working in my own gym with plate-loadable dumbbells, but I had to make due with the light 120-lb dumbbells at the local commercial gym.

I’m convinced, you need to hit these body parts with heavy weight. Optimally, you go with big weights on barbells, but if your back is acting up, you can do some of the stuff I showed you today.

If you’re looking for more ideas to build a big yoke, cannon-ball shoulders and massive upper back, look no further than YOKETOBER.

Any questions, please let me know.

All the best in your training.

Jedd

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Build Big Traps, Thick Back and Stronger Shoulders

I was able to train some heavy Grip Stuff tonight for the first time in about 6 weeks, and it felt great.

On a whim, I decided to set up T-Bar Rows using a barbell with one loading sleeve jutted up against the G-Rex and used a Rope as the gripping surface and to my surprise, it felt OUTSTANDING!

In fact, I liked it so much, I ran up and got the camera to film some of it.

In this first video, I show you how to set this up in case you haven’t tried it before.

This lift will work just about ANYWHERE as long as you have the equipment, so give this one a try.

Next, I then decided to load it up heavy and see what I could do with it…

WOOH! Felt good to shock the Grip! (more…)

You might be wondering to yourself why is Konstantinov, arguably one of the best deadlifters in the world, wearing his belt so high in this deadlift video.

Well, to the untrained eye, his belt is WAY TOO high and he is going to get injured.

BUT,

Upon further inspection, you can see that through the years, Konstantinov has:

– perfected his deadlift form

– isolated and created strength and rigidity in the segments (lower lumbar L2-S1) of his spine that REQUIRE stability

– built up strength, thickness and muscle hypertrophy in the musculature surrounding* the spine in the area that resists anterior SHEAR forces under load.

* Most notably the longissimus thoracis.

When the spine is neutral the pennation of the longissimus aligns at approximately 45 degress to resist shear force, ie. protect your back and provide the stiffness to deadlift or squat without injury.

So, Konstantinov is using the belt correctly for his body type (antrhopometry).  He is bracing his abdominals outward via a powerful isometric contraction and utilizing intra-abdominal pressure to push out against the belt, which is aligned across the musculature taking the load, ie. the thoracic portion of the longissimus (one of the spinal erectors).

References:

Mcgill – Ultimate Back Fitness and Performance

Eric Cressey & Mike Robertson

Combat Core

How to Build Muscle | Muscle Building Workouts | How to Lose Fat | Six Pack Abs

WRONG!

In the brief article below, the analogy that Dr. McGill talks about with the fishing pole, I first heard directly from him at the Syracuse seminar. As he discusses, the lateral hoop tendons of the RA wrap around to stabilize the lower lumbar.

Check out this post from Dragondoor.com

PILATES exercises could cause more harm than good to some back-pain sufferers, controversial research suggests.

Studies into the “drawing in” method, a fundamental Pilates technique, have found the process may exacerbate pre-existing back conditions.

The technique involves participants drawing in their stomachs to their spines – and lifting the pelvic floor.

Stuart McGill, professor of spine biomechanics at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, told The Sunday Telegraph that by targeting the core, transverse abdominal muscle, people were potentially weakening their spines.

“If you hollow in, you bring the muscles closer to the spine, which reduces the stability of the back, so inherently you create a more unstable column,” he said.

Professor McGill said he had reached this conclusion after analysing how varying loads and forces affected the way the spine functioned.

“Consider a fishing rod upright, with the butt on the ground,” he said.

“It would buckle with a few grams of load placed on top, (but) attach wires to the rod at different levels … and the rod will bear many kilos without buckling.

“Now bring the wire attachments on the ground closer to the base of the rod. Not only is the rod weakened, but it will buckle at a lower load. Your spine acts the same way.”

Pilates has long been trumpeted as helping its millions of followers stay toned and slim, while improving their posture and relieving back pain.

Its popularity has surged in recent years as people flock to classes.

Celebrities such as Madonna and Liz Hurley swear by its results.

Professor McGill said that although he believed Pilates in its purest form was advantageous for some, instructors should target all core muscles in the body and take into account their students’ fitness levels and injury history.

He said people should forget about “drawing in” and the transverse abdominal muscle and simply stiffen all the muscles and the abdominal wall at a level to match each task.